There have been some pretty seismic political decisions made over the last couple of years the most earth shattering of which, one could make the case, haven’t been coming out of Japan.  So it is then that Japan’s foreign residents have likely been reduced to watching the action unfold from a distance.

Being wrapped in the pashmina of this geographical separation, on a personal level at least, has come with mixed feelings.  When it was the turn of this expat’s motherland to be thrust into the political glare colleagues who had, up to that point, barely afforded me a second glance fell about me like I had all the answers. I’d never been so popular. But with this popularity came niggling feelings of separation, shame almost, that I should have been over there somehow helping to shape the course of things to come. Dishing out my opinions on chat apps with friends back home only served to make me feel even more of a charlatan especially amidst the accusations of having “buggered off”. Still, “every cloud” and all that - political commentators telling the youth of my country of birth that they would do well to get out while they can, left me to think, “Well, I’m already out thanks, so what to engage with now?”.  

Questions as to what level we foreign residents of Japan are able to engage with the political discourse in Japan may well be answered something along the lines of, “Only among ourselves!”.  Certainly in this expat’s experience such attempts to engage with the locals on matters political have tended to be a bit of a non-starter.  

And then comes the right (or more pertinently, lack thereof) of suffrage among Japan’s foreign residents, long a topic of stunted debate. "Stunted" because maybe in some cases we’re not sure we want it or deserve it and also because discourse on the issue seems to have died down over recent years.  Currently, the only path open to the ballot box for foreigners in Japan is naturalisation.  

So, in an attempt to stimulate the debate we asked the City-Cost community how engaged they feel they are with politics in Japan.

As a foreign resident of Japan, how well represented do you feel by Japan's politicians on a national level?

One wonders how this chart might look if it was reflecting the opinions of locals. Anyway, it probably comes as little surprise to see feelings of being well represented significantly in the minority.

As a foreign resident of Japan, how well represented do you feel by your local government / authorities?

A slight increase in the lack of interest in local politics might raise wry smile - this kind of political sphere has never been the most exciting, has it?  However, given the reality of expats in Japan paying city tax / residential tax (as in, in most cases we have to actually go and physically pay it) and the likelihood that if the first step towards political representation for expats in Japan is going to come from anywhere, it is likely be at a local level, then this lack of interest might come as a surprise.  

In fact this first step may have already been taken, some time ago, with the establishment in 1996 of a Foreign Citizens Representative Council in Kawasaki City.  This was followed in 1997 by a similar council set up by The Tokyo Metropolitan Government.  These councils, consisting of foreign residents, investigate, debate and present issues of concern to the local mayor.  Any comments made, however, are not legally binding. 

As a foreign resident of Japan, do you feel that you should have the right to vote in elections (local or national) in Japan?

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